After more than 60 years in Finkle Street, there’s a new forwarding address for Ripon Post Office.
The team of four counter and mobile service staff headed by postmistress Amy Kaur, has moved to The Arcade, just off Market Place.
The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, was on hand for the official opening yesterday and gave the new premises his stamp of approval.
He told the Stray Ferret:
“The post office provides services that are vital to the whole community, from people sending letters and parcels, to those collecting their pension or doing business banking.”
The former premises in Finkle Street
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Cllr Parkin, added:
“With level access from the street, it will be a lot easier for people with limited mobility and parents with prams and pushchairs to gain entry.
“I wish Amy and her team every success in their new location.”
The former post office premises had steps and no ramp and Mrs Kaur, said:
“We have been wanting to move for some time to a more accessible place.
“In addition to selling postage stamps, accepting parcels for delivery, paying out pensions, handling passport and driving licence applications and car tax renewals, we provide financial services ranging from travel currency to business banking and cash and cheque transactions.”
A key element of the service provided is also expanding – as the mobile post office unit managed by Gordon Royle now covers 22 towns and villages in the Ripon area, with the possibility of further locations to be added.
Mr Royle said:
“During the current coronavirus crisis, when many people living in rural communities remain isolated in their homes and unable to travel to Ripon, the mobile service has grown in popularity.”
As well as providing the full range of post office services, the new site also includes a value store.
Mobile unit serves Ripon’s Post Office customers
Business was brisk at the Post Office mobile unit in Ripon as market day shoppers brought increased footfall to the city centre.
The city’s Post Office in Finkle Street, which has been serving customers for more than 60 years, closed its doors on Wednesday evening, as preparations progress for a relocation to a unit in The Arcade off Market Place.
The mobile unit, which will be located in Old Market Place until September 28, normally serves outlying villages in the Ripon area, but will stay in the city until the opening of the new premises.
Opening hours are 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday and 9am until 1pm on Saturday.
Ripon Postmistress Amy Kaur, outside the new premises in The Arcade
Postmistress Amy Kaur told The Stray Ferret:
“We are looking forward to opening in The Arcade. It’s a better location for us, because it has level access. The steps outside the old premises made access difficult for the elderly, disabled, wheelchair users and people with children in prams and pushchairs.”
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As well as providing the full range of Post Office services, the new location will include a Quidz In value store.
The mobile Post Office unit, headed by Gordon Royle, now covers more than 20 towns and villages in the Ripon area and will be back in the outlying areas from September 28.
Gordon said:
“During the current coronavirus crisis, when many people living in rural communities remained isolated in their homes and unable to travel to Ripon, the mobile service has grown in popularity.”